Newcomer to state, UCA chief settles in

Houston Davis, who took over as president of the University of Central Arkansas on Jan. 23, said it was “nice to inherit a really good leadership team” at the school.
Houston Davis, who took over as president of the University of Central Arkansas on Jan. 23, said it was “nice to inherit a really good leadership team” at the school.

CONWAY -- When Houston Davis became the 11th president of the University of Central Arkansas, he brought youth and experience but no Arkansas ties to the job.

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University of Central Arkansas President Houston Davis speaks March 2 during an event at the state Capitol in Little Rock.

At 44, Davis is the youngest UCA president since Winfred Thompson took the job in 1988 at age 42.

Davis, whose first day at the Conway campus was Jan. 23, inherits a relatively stable university that makes far fewer headlines than it did just a few years ago when two consecutive presidents resigned under pressure and later were convicted of crimes.

Even so, Davis is no stranger to contention. As interim president of Kennesaw State University before he moved to Conway, Davis fired four top administrators in his first month on the job during a financial-services scandal. As head of the Georgia college, Davis' predecessor there abruptly announced his retirement three weeks before being implicated in an auditors' report for a series of financial policy violations.

"I had some things to clean up there," just as UCA's immediate past president, Tom Courtway, did, Davis said.

"It's been nice to inherit a really good leadership team" at UCA, Davis said. "I thank Tom Courtway for that. It's strange. What goes around comes around."

Davis has spent much of his first weeks at UCA getting to know the faculty and the staff members.

"After six months, I would hope to have met everyone on the campus," he said.

Davis' goals for UCA include boosting and managing enrollment, which declined last fall -- a drop not unexpected after a college increases its admissions standards, as UCA did, he noted.

Things already are looking good for the fall. "Applications are up considerably," 25 percent more, "from where they were last year," Davis said. "It may be the biggest freshman class we've had in a decade."

Because so many of those applicants -- more than 700 -- meet the criteria for academic scholarships, the result could be "the most academically qualified freshman class ever at UCA," he said.

Bunny Adcock, a UCA trustee, noted that higher enrollment is "more important than ever now that state funding has been flat for so long."

"We're becoming more and more dependent on tuition and fees," Adcock said. "The only way you're going to get more money is to get more students."

Freshman enrollment in the fall was roughly 1,850, Davis said. A good goal would be 2,200 to 2,300 freshmen, he said.

He would want to see two to three cycles of enrollment growth to be sure the growth is "a trend."

Davis also wants the school to focus more on fundraising and to develop interdisciplinary partnerships that allow students in various departments to study topics such as cybersecurity and information assurance.

Davis, who is living in the UCA-owned president's home, is new to Arkansas but is no stranger to the mid-South. He grew up in Tennessee, where he earned his three degrees, including a doctorate from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

From UCA's first president, J.J. Doyne, to Courtway, "They all had some type of Arkansas ties before becoming" the university's chief executive, said Jimmy Bryant, director of archives and university history.

"I've seen just about everything" at colleges where he has worked over the years, Davis said. "That probably does allow me to have a little broader view."

Elizabeth Farris, chairman of UCA's board of trustees, sees Davis' youth as a plus.

"You can tell he's got a whole lot of energy, a real good attitude about things," said Farris, whose father, Jeff Farris Jr., was UCA president from 1975-1986.

"He also has college-age kids," so he knows "what they're going through and can see through their perspective a little better," she said.

Davis has one daughter, Polly, who's already in college; a second daughter, Whitney, who's headed there in the fall; and son Joshua, 14, who plans to join the Conway High School band's drum line in the fall. Davis' wife, Jenny, is a high school English teacher and still living in Georgia so that Whitney can finish her senior year there.

Farris said Davis brings a "really well-balanced" resume to the job.

"He came to us from a big school." Kennesaw State, with more than 35,000 students, is part of the University System of Georgia. But he also has worked at much smaller schools like Austin Peay State University in Tennessee.

While one can argue for or against home-state ties for a university president, Farris believes Davis "can bring some new ideas that we haven't tried in Conway before."

Rush Harding III, a former UCA trustee who still supports and donates to the university, said he and others are "excited about this next era" for UCA.

Harding agreed that Davis' age can be an asset and said he hopes Davis can "bridge" all of UCA's constituencies -- the faculty, the students, the alumni and other stakeholders.

State Desk on 03/12/2017

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story listed the wrong name for Houston Davis' daughter, Polly.

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